


Hypothermia

by Gamerwitch1776



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 14:38:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15415182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gamerwitch1776/pseuds/Gamerwitch1776
Summary: Short about Garrus point of view following Shepard’s return from meeting Lerviathan.





	Hypothermia

     She was so cold, as he dragged her back to the shuttle, legs dragging, head lolling.  He felt the cold seep into the hand draped around her waist despite his gloves. “Shepard, we’ve got you! Shepard!” the tremble in his sub vocals uncontrollable. As he got her into the shuttle, she sprawled, inert.  
     Edi jumped in after and banged on the bulkhead as a signal for Cortez to get them off this watery wasteland.  
     “Shepard, look at me Shepard!” Garrus yelled, shaking Shepard’s shoulders.  
     Edi's head snapped around at the terror resonating in his voice. She knelt beside Shepard’s unresponsive body. “Garrus, the Commander is suffering from hypothermia, her core body temperature is dangerously low. We must warm her if she is to survive.”  
     Garrus checked the data scrolling through his visors heads up display. Heart rate 30 bpm, breathing almost undetectable.  
     “The Med kit is under the copilots seat”, Cortez yelled from the cockpit. “I think there’s a thermal blanket as part of the standard set up.”  
     Garrus continued to hold Shepard’s hands in his own. They felt stiff and her lips, nose and ears were blue. “Don’t you leave me Shepard! I can’t do this on my own!”  
     Edi returned from retrieving the medical kit, opening it to grab a small packet which looked like folded metal foil. “Garrus, in her present state, the blanket alone is not sufficient to bring her core body temperature back up to normal, we need an outside heat source to place under the blanket with her.” The flat robotic tones of the AI grated on Garrus’ ears as he looked down into Shepard’s face.  
     “Got it Edi! Get her out of her armor while I get out of mine!” Garrus knew that in extreme emergencies, the best source of heat was another living body and wasn’t it convenient that Turians had a higher normal body temperature than humans. As Edi stripped Shepard down to her skivvies, Garrus flipped catches and dropped pieces until he was standing in nothing but his plates and skin. He reached out and gathered Shepard into his arms. Sitting with his back against the bulkhead, Shepard’s smaller form in his lap, the back of her head resting against his shoulder. Edi tucked the foil blanket around them, trapping it under Garrus’ legs and shoulders to create a tent like enclosure for their bodies. Garrus rubbed Shepard’s arms and sides, trying to stimulate blood flow and generate heat through the movement. She was so cold, so small and cold. Hard to believe the woman who had orchestrated Sovereign’s destruction and led the raid on the Collector base was barely bigger than a Turian child. The spirit which normally made her seem larger than life seemed to be vacant and he prayed it would return.  
     He’d had his reservations about her descending under the water in the mech, but in true Shepard fashion, she’d never ask someone else to do what she felt she had to do herself.  
     “Come back to me,” he had whispered staring into her green eyes right before she stepped the mech off the edge.  
     Her lips had formed the words, “I promise,” green eyes boring into blue.  
     “You promised me Shepard and I know your word means something.”  
     “Recent medical information indicates that talking to an unresponsive hypothermia patient may facilitate they’re return to consciousness.” Edi stated.  
     Garrus closed his eyes and tightened his hold on Shepard’s cold form. “Spirits please,” he silently prayed, “let her come back, she’s one of the few things that makes this life worth living. Shepard,” he spoke into he disheveled hair, “It’s OK, we’re here with you. It’s safe to come back. Besides, we still haven’t settled who is the better shot. I’ve got 100 credits riding on it with James.” He focused on her vitals through his visor once more. Body temp up 2 degrees, heart rate slightly faster than before also. “I know you can do this Shepard,” Garrus crooned, beginning to hum at a sub vocal level. “I’ve seen you take on a whole platoon of Cerberus by yourself, what’s a little cold?” He felt her twitch, then again, as her whole body began to shiver. He looked up to meet Edi’s eyes in a question.  
     “Shivering is normal and actually a good sign that she is warming.” Edi intoned.  
     “That’s it Shepard.” He began to rub her arms and shoulders more vigorously. Did he imagine that some color had returned to her face? “Cortez, how long before we make the Normandy?”  
     “ETA 10 minutes.” Worry thick in the pilot’s voice. “I’m pushing the engines as hard as I can!”  
     Garrus returned his focus to Shepard as her shivering became so violent that he had to struggle to hold her within his arms. “Edi?” Alarm evident in his voice.  
     “Normal Garrus, we just have to keep her from harming herself.” Edi said as she walked toward them to tuck the metallic blanket back around their bodies.  
     Shepard began to moan and whimper, her voice barely a whisper, “Promise, I promised” struggling against his embrace.  
     “You’re back Shepard, I’ve got you. You didn’t break your promise” Garrus purred as he rubbed his mandibles into her hair. She seemed to calm physically but continued to mutter.  Running out of words, Garrus began to hum a nonsense song used to quiet sleepy children.  
     Edi’s flat tones cut in. “5 minutes.”  
     “Big Blue?” Continuing to shiver but looking up into Garrus’ eyes, “are you real?”  
     Garrus heaved a sigh of relief, for her to use her special pet name for him signaled that she was back.  
“I’m real” he said, continuing to hum. “You scared me there for a minute.” His sub vocals cracking with emotion.  
     She turned slightly within his arms. Snuggling sideways with her right ear pressed against his chest. “Pretty.”  
     “What’s pretty” he asked.  
     “Didn’t know you could sing” Shepard whispered. “It’s beautiful. Don’t stop.” Her shivering had subsided to occasional quaking.  
     He laughed, deep in his chest then continued to hum the lullaby. “Shepard, when this war is over, we are taking a vacation, somewhere warm and tropical and I will ‘sing’ to you all day if you want.”  
     “Promise?” Shepard asked, more felt than heard with her face pressed against his chest.  
     “I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> I’m not a writer. This is just something that was bouncing around in my head after playing Mass Effect 3. Never thought Bioware could make an alien love affair as good as the Alastair/Warden one in Dragon Age Origins, but they did.


End file.
